Rindon Johnson, This canon fodder is no bother, 2023

2023

Medium

Leather and crayon

Dimensions

189 × 140 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-156301

"This canon fodder is no bother (2023)" is a three-part wall piece made of white nubuck leather, which Rindon Johnson works on with red and blue chalk. Across the large canvas, the artist generously traces the number sequence 1-20 in blue paint, using a childlike handwriting style. On one of the two smaller leather panels, a dashed red chalk line is repeated. The use of cowhide as the basis for the drawing evokes associations with parchment, the predecessor of paper, where thin animal skin has been used as a writing material since antiquity. However, the leather is not just a canvas but also symbolizes the cultural influence of the animal material. With the choice of material, Johnson addresses the issue of hides and, through their presentation, highlights the diverse resource and the associated subjugation, neglect, and interchangeability of animals by humans. The actual act of skinning, a violent crossing of bodily boundaries, illustrates this form of objectification. Johnson emphasizes, through his leather works, the recognition of the agency of animals and questions the ethics and sustainability of profit-driven interests associated with animal products. The human interaction with the animal environment depicted here is not characterized by a symbiotic exchange but rather by one-sided exploitation, viewing the animal as a capitalist commodity. Johnson extends this approach in his leather works to address identity-political and classist themes such as practices of racist exploitation.